Story: George Ernest Asare, Kumasi
THE Police in Kumasi have indicated that gangsterism is gaining roots in the Kumasi metropolis and its environs, creating a state of insecurity and fear among residents.
As part of their investigations to unravel the mystery surrounding the gruesome murder of a 26-year-old goldsmith, Jordan Osei Yaw, at South Suntreso in Kumasi on November 24, 2007, the police revealed that the deceased was allegedly murdered by a gang of six youth based at Bantama in Kumasi.
Using machetes, axe and other sharp objects, the gangsters inflicted deep wounds on the head, forehead, neck, palms, back and other parts of the body of the deceased, who bled profusely to death.
The deceased was at that time watching television in his room around 10:30 p.m. when the suspects parked their Mitsubishi Pajero with registration number GR 3574 G by the roadside, entered his room which was not locked and callously inflicted the fatal wounds on his body before fleeing in the waiting vehicle.
The police are looking for six persons, who are said to belong to a gang in Bantama for their alleged involvement in the crime. The suspects are Kwame Appiah, described by the police as the leader; Kwadwo Poku, alias Vandamme, alias Kutany, who is also the younger brother of Appiah; and others whose names were only given as Dauda, Marcus, Gyempeh and Agyankugya.
The police have, however, alleged that the deceased belonged to a rival gang based at Ashtown and they were seriously planning to revenge the death of Osei Yaw.
According to the police, the gang at Ashtown are massively massing up to first attack the father of one of the gangsters who is said to be involved in the killing of Jordan.
The police alleged that Kwadwo Poku had a deep machete wound on the left wrist and bled profusely until he became unconscious after the crime and was, therefore, rushed to the County Clinic at Abrepo for treatment.
The nature of the injury was such that the suspect had to be referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) by his alleged accomplices, who were all soaked in blood, and was admitted around 11:30 p.m. He was discharged at 8:30 p.m. the following day after his wound had been sutured, but lack of security consciousness on the part of the medical officers at both the County Clinic and the KATH did not make them suspect anything to conduct further investigations on how Poku sustained the injury.
They also failed to find out why those who accompanied him to the hospital were all soaked in blood.
The police stated at the press conference that the wave of gangsterism in Kumasi dated as far back as 2004 and gave instances where some youth from Asawasi and Zongo clashed for inexplicable reasons, leaving behind a number of casualties.
The police said in the course of the clash in 2004, one person from Asawasi had one of his fingers severed while another from Zongo had his right wrist chopped off.
The police attributed their difficulty in apprehending the criminals to inadequate information from the public.
One thing that is clear is that members of both rival gangs at Ashtown and Bantama who have sworn to create insecurity in Kumasi are well-known to residents, and they are also aware of their nefarious activities, yet nobody is prepared to offer useful information to the police.
The time has come for the police to act decisively by going all out to arrest and prosecute all deviants who are creating panic among residents in Kumasi to enhance peace and security in the metropolis.
The public also have a big role to play by not only becoming security conscious and report all suspicious characters to the police, but also refraining from interfering with the work of the police to enhance their operations.
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